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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Can Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Cause Enlarged Breast?

My left breast has become very firm and enlarged. My nipple is nearly flat with the rest of my areola on my left breast. The breast has a flushed pinkness on the rest of my breast. I've never had this before and don't know what to do. I lung cancer and just recently finished my first round of chemo and radiation. Could this be related? Do I need to see my family doctor? The type of cancer I have is non-small cell lung cancer Stage 3B. Thanks for your help.
Marianna Nichols
posted on Fri, 14 Mar 2014
Twitter Thu, 25 Dec 2014 Answered on
Twitter Fri, 26 Dec 2014 Last reviewed on
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Pulmonologist,  's  Response
Thanks for your question on HCM.
I think you are having tissue necrosis as a complicationof radiotherapy.
Radiation used in cancer treatment can affect normal surrounding structures too.
In normal cells, radiation causes cell death and cell injury.
So healing takes place in injured cells as fibrosis.
This fibrous tissue is not smooth and soft as normal cells.
So post radiation hardening is due to fibrosis and scarring of damaged normal tissue.
So hardening of your breast is mostly due to radiotherapy side effect.
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Can Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Cause Enlarged Breast?

Thanks for your question on HCM. I think you are having tissue necrosis as a complicationof radiotherapy. Radiation used in cancer treatment can affect normal surrounding structures too. In normal cells, radiation causes cell death and cell injury. So healing takes place in injured cells as fibrosis. This fibrous tissue is not smooth and soft as normal cells. So post radiation hardening is due to fibrosis and scarring of damaged normal tissue. So hardening of your breast is mostly due to radiotherapy side effect.